


Marry Mr. Juliet (Full Moon Ficlet #400 - Dress)

by JoMouse



Series: Full Moon Ficlets [30]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Architect Derek Hale, Don't copy to another site, Father Stiles Stilinski, Friendship, Kid Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Watching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Derek spots a man and his daughter outside his office window. He watches them until one day he decides to say 'hello'.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Full Moon Ficlets [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652395
Comments: 40
Kudos: 221
Collections: Full Moon Ficlet Prompt #400: Dress





	Marry Mr. Juliet (Full Moon Ficlet #400 - Dress)

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and salutations!
> 
> It's early morning Saturday and I'm on my way to see my daughter for the first time since she left for college in August (this is the longest I've gone without seeing her and I miss her) so I'm hurrying up and posting this.
> 
> Big thanks to [Marie](HTTP://quietzap.tumblr.com) for the super-fast beta. I literally finished this last night before I collapsed after a long week and she had it done this morning for me. She's also the world's greatest cheerleader when I'm feeling less than confident in my work, so I don't know what I would do without her.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story (even if it got away from me just a little bit).
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.

Derek sat at his drawing table, one pencil tapping on the paper clipped to the top and another clenched between his teeth. His eyes strayed to the window in front of his desk and across the street where people raced back and forth paying no attention to what was going on around them. He’d chosen this particular office space for the window so he could people watch and try to figure out what the people were up to and what kind of houses they lived in.

The store directly across from him had a large window and the clothing inside it changed weekly. This week, there was a display of dresses for young girls that probably cost as much as one of his car payments, if not more. He’d seen a few women pause in front of the window before hurrying through the door and one by one the dresses would be pulled from the display window. 

It wasn’t the women that kept him looking out every day, it was a man about his age who had walked by the first day while Derek drank his coffee. He’d been dressed in a hoodie and ripped jeans, holding the hand of a little girl who had excitedly pointed at the window and pressed her hands to the glass. Derek watched as the man grinned down at the little girl and nodded but when the girl’s attention was pulled away by a passing dog, the man’s smile faded and he looked from the window to his daughter. His shoulders slumped slightly as he followed her away down the street.

The next morning, Derek had been surprised to see the man again, the little girl nowhere to be seen. The man stopped in front of the window again and glanced inside before reaching into the pocket of his hoodie to pull out his wallet. He looked into it and up at the window again before letting out a sigh and continuing down the street. 

Every day, Derek watched the man stop in front of the window and check his wallet before continuing on his way. One morning, he saw him stop and pull out a couple of bills from his wallet and put it into the empty guitar case of a street performer, and another morning he was carrying a tray of coffees and handed them to a group of elderly women waiting for a bus. Derek’s heart warmed with every act of kindness the man showed to people and still he stopped and looked in the window and left without going inside the store.

One Saturday morning, Derek had to go into the office to pick up a sketch to drop off at a client who was on their way out of town and as he was placing the rolled up sketch into the cardboard transport tube, his eye was caught by movement across the street. The man was back with the little girl who had her face pressed against the glass. He saw the man, kneel next to her and turn her to face him. Derek swallowed as he saw the man talking and the girl’s shoulders drooping the longer he talked.

When the man finished talking, he reached out and brushed his thumbs underneath the little girl’s eyes before standing and taking her hand. The girl gave one last look at the window before taking a step to move away with the man. As she turned, her eyes caught Derek’s in the window and she smiled at him and waved; Derek couldn’t help but return the wave. The man looked up and nodded at Derek before tugging her hand and continuing down the street and out of Derek’s view.

Derek spent Sunday with his family at their huge house in the woods, talking with his sister and telling her about the man and his daughter. While his face heated up at his sister teasing him about becoming obsessed with someone he didn’t know, his mother came into the room and Derek could tell she’d been listening. “Tell me about the dress,” she said and Derek pulled his phone out to show her the photo he’d taken on night as he was leaving work. He hadn’t thought about why he was doing it until that moment when his mother looked the photo over, zooming in and giving a nod. She also slid the screen and saw a photo Derek had taken of the man and his daughter. “Give me a week.”

As the week passed, Derek continued to watch for the man. He still came by every morning but the difference was now he would look over at Derek and either nod or raise his hand in a greeting that Derek would return. On Thursday, Derek got a little tired of being a creeper and when the time approached, he left his office, stopping at the small coffee cart in the lobby and picking up two cups before heading across the street. 

He waited by the window, leaning against the brick wall. He spotted the man coming and pushed off from the wall just as he passed. He watched him look into the window and smile tightly for a moment before turning around. Derek wanted to chuckle when the man’s face fell as it fell on Derek’s empty window. He was so busy watching, taking in the details of the man’s face, the moles that peppered it that he almost missed his chance.

“Hello,” he called out just as the man turned to continue down the street. 

He twirled around, the battered messenger bag over his shoulder swinging out and nearly taking out a passerby. “Hi,” he stammered, a large grin on his face. He took the cup Derek held out to him. “Thanks. I’m Stiles.”

“Derek,” he responded, taking a sip of his coffee at a loss for what to say next.

“Decided to stop being a creeper?” Stiles asked. “My daughter called you Juliet, but I pointed out that you didn’t have a balcony and you’re on the first floor.”

Derek laughed. “She’s creative. Cute, too.”

“Thanks.” Stiles studied him. “I should find this whole situation odd but I asked around about you and everyone said you’re private but kind.”

“Like you,” he responded, chuckling when Stiles’ eyes widened. “I’ve seen you helping people.”

“Mom always told me to help others because you never knew what someone was going through or what path you chose that kept you from being them,” he explained, his hand rubbed over the pocket where Derek knew he kept his wallet. 

They stood in a comfortable silence as they drank their coffee and watched people pass them by. After a few moments, Stiles looked at his watch and frowned. “I have to go,” he said. “It was nice meeting you for real. Don’t be a stranger.”

He was gone before Derek could get up the nerve to ask for his number and he started to follow in the direction he’d gone but slowed to a stop as he watched Stiles duck into the homeless shelter around the corner. Swallowing hard, Derek backed up and headed back to his office, mind on Stiles and his bright personality. 

The next morning, Derek repeated his movements and met Stiles at the window with coffee in hand. He stepped up next to Stiles as he looked at the dress. “My daughter wants this dress,” Stiles admitted. “It’s just so expensive. I don’t understand how something made out of the same cloth that you can purchase at another store for twenty dollars, costs ten times that here just because of the name on the label.” He chuckled lowly. “It’s beautiful but that money could go to so much more useful stuff.”

Derek thought about some of the homes he designed and how much they cost compared to the tiny home designs he did in his spare time and donated to different charities around the state. He also spent one weekend a month helping build the tiny homes, a feeling of fulfillment every time the charity handed over a set of keys to a deserving individual or family. He looked at Stiles and wondered if he’d heard of the organization and thought about getting him a card.

“So, what do you do in your big office on the other side of the glass?” Stiles asked.

“I design houses,” Derek told him. “I was just in the middle of one if you want to come take a look?” 

Stiles glanced at his watch and chewed his lip before nodding. “Sure, that sounds great.”

What Derek had thought would just be a couple of minutes showing Stiles his drawing before he ran off to wherever he went every day, possibly the homeless shelter but he wasn’t sure where, ended up with them spending most of the day talking. Stiles was easy to talk to and he curled up on one end of the couch in Derek’s office while Derek worked at his drawing table. He found having the company made the day go by quickly and he wondered if Stiles would be willing to come by again.

He was about to ask when Stiles jumped to his feet. “Shit, I’m going to be late.” Derek turned to find him scrambling to grab his jacket and bag from where he’d dropped them when they’d first come into the office. “School gets out in five minutes. If I don’t get there, Robin’s teacher is going to kill me.”

“I’m hoping that’s hyperbole, but if you need a ride, my car is behind the building,” Derek offered.

Stiles hesitated. “I shouldn’t but I will.”

Derek nodded and they hurried out. Derek called out to his secretary that he was leaving for the day and would see her in the morning. The woman looked stunned, he never left early but he never had visitors to his office that weren’t his family either so Derek wasn’t surprised by her reaction. Once they were in the car, he followed Stiles’ directions until they pulled up in front of a private school located a few miles from the building.

“Thanks for the ride, Derek. And for the nice day,” Stiles said, climbing out of the car and raising a hand to wave at Robin who was racing down the stairs towards him as thunder sounded and rain began to fall.

“Do you need a ride home?” he offered and again Stiles hesitated but pulled the back door open and helped Robin inside. 

“Mr. Juliet!” she exclaimed when she saw him.

“Mr. Derek,” Stiles corrected her as he buckled into his seat and turned to Derek with a small smile. “Derek, this is my daughter Robin.”

“Nice to meet you,” he told her and she smiled, showing off gaps where she’d lost teeth recently. They sat in the car for a minute listening to the rain picking up before Derek nudged Stiles. “Where am I going?”

“It’s kind of far,” Stiles said. “We usually take the bus.”

“We spend hours on the bus,” Robin whined and dug into the lunchbox next to her and pulled out a sandwich. “Do you want pb&j, Mr. Juliet?” Derek bit back a smile as Stiles corrected her again and said she shouldn’t eat in front of others. “But we always eat dinner on the ride home.”

Stiles’ face was blotchy and red, his eyes wide in horror as he stared at Derek. “You know, I was going to grab some dinner at the diner by my office. Why don’t you two join me? My treat.”

“You don’t have-”

“It would be doing me a huge favor if you joined me so I don’t have to eat alone. The pitying looks I get from the waitresses is starting to get to me,” Derek said and he could see Robin giving her father pleading eyes from the backseat as she whispered, “Curly fries, daddy.”

They agreed to join Derek but Stiles was still fidgety next to him as Robin started to talk about her day. Derek tried to keep up with her rambling but eventually focused on the road and let the sound of her voice wash over him. He felt his shoulders relax when Stiles started talking as well. When they got to the diner, Derek told them to wait while he opened his trunk to get out the large umbrella he kept there, holding it over the doors so that Stiles and Robin stayed as dry as possible.

The diner wasn’t very busy when they went in and the waitress waved them over to a booth in the back, a smile on her face as she wiggled her eyebrows at Derek who just shook his head and glowered back at her. Once they were settled, Robin insisted on sitting next to Derek, surprising him but Stiles seemed to take it in stride, sprawling across his side of the booth.

It had been a long time since Derek felt as comfortable around people outside his family, but being with Stiles and Robin was easy. Although he kept thinking about the private school she attended and how he could possibly be paying for it while being poor enough to stay at the homeless shelter confused him, he knew it wasn’t any of his business so he tried to keep his mind on what was in front of him.

While they were eating, his phone went off and he saw it was his mother who had sent a photo and a smile spread across his face. He texted back to say he’d be by later in the evening and she told him he was welcome anytime. “Do you have plans after this?” 

Stiles glanced at his watch and over at Robin where she was sitting with her head on top of her arms folded on the table. She yawned and blinked wearily at him. “I should get her home,” he said, apologetically. “A bus will be by in about ten-”

“I told you I could drive you home,” Derek interrupted and Stiles looked uncomfortable. “At least borrow my umbrella so you stay dry at the bus stop.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out one of his business cards and using the pen the waitress had left to sign the bill, he wrote his cell phone number on the back. “Take this and call if you need anything. Or just want to talk some more.”

“And you said you were awkward around people,” Stiles teased, taking the card and sliding it into his jeans before standing and urging Robin to her feet. 

Stiles held the umbrella in one hand and Robin’s hand in the other as they walked Derek back to his car before heading to the bus stop. Guilt ate at Derek as he watched them sitting on the bench, waiting for the bus but after a couple of minutes his phone buzzed. “Go home. We’re fine,” it read from an unknown number and when he looked up again, Stiles was shaking his head and waving.

Derek pulled away and headed to his mother’s house, his mind on the mystery that was Stiles.

The next morning, Derek looked over at the box sitting on the couch as he bent over his table, keeping one eye on the clock. He kept glancing up, expecting to see Stiles at any moment but the man didn’t appear. When lunch rolled around and there was still no sign of him, Derek pulled his phone out and debated texting. Finally, he figured if Stiles hadn’t wanted him to text, he wouldn’t have texted first the night before. 

_ You okay? _

He held his phone, hoping to see a response but the phone stayed dark in his hand. Shaking his head, he started to worry. Moving to his desk, he woke up his laptop to see if he could find a schedule for Robin’s school; maybe she had the day off and they were spending it somewhere else. Nothing he found gave him any indication but he did see an estimate for tuition and nearly choked; even with his income, it wouldn’t be easy.

When an hour had passed since he’d sent the text, Derek grabbed the box from the sofa and headed out to his car. He drove over to the school first and saw that there were kids running around the playground outside but he didn’t see Robin’s red hair so he drove back towards his office, at a loss for where he should look next. He parked behind his office and grabbed the box. As he walked past his receptionist’s desk, he stumbled when she called out that he had company.

He gave her a look; she never let anyone into his office without letting him know first. Opening the door, he was surprised to find Stiles sitting on his couch with a sleeping Robin next to him. “Hey,” he said, looking up at Derek. 

“Are you alright?” 

“We’re alright,” he responded, running his fingers through Robin’s hair. “She had a bit of a fever this morning so we stayed home.”

“I texted you,” he said. He debated before he said the next part. “I went by Robin’s school.”

“You really are a creeper,” he teased. “My phone died last night and I forgot to charge it. Robin drew you a picture and wanted to bring it by but she got tired and fell asleep on the bus.”

“Can I ask a personal question?” Derek asked, sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch and looking at Stiles.

“How can I afford her school when I look like I barely afford to live?” Stiles asked, laughing when Derek gaped. “It’s a common question.” He shrugged. “Robin has a scholarship to the school, so it doesn’t really cost her all that much but what it does cost definitely means living on a budget. Taking the bus is cheaper than trying to maintain a car.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a computer consultant. I freelance to a lot of different companies. It’s not the best job so I pick up odd jobs here and there. Last week I was working with the homeless shelter around the corner to set up inventory control software. You probably don’t remember but I helped you set up your computers when this office first opened.” 

Stiles didn’t look like he’d be insulted if Derek didn’t remember him but as he started to tell him just that, he had a flash of an image of an exhausted young man in rumpled clothing working underneath his desk. “Vaguely,” he admitted.

“You were nice to me,” Stiles told him. “You were telling me about tiny houses and how much you enjoyed designing them.”

“Still do,” Derek admitted with a laugh. “Why did you ask what I did if you already knew?”

“Didn’t want to seem like a creeper when you didn’t seem to recognize me,” he said with a shrug.

“Where do you live?” Derek asked.

“With my father. He’s the sheriff over in Beacon Hills.”

“Sheriff Stilinski?” Stiles nodded. "Your name is Stiles Stilinski?” 

“For all intents and purposes, yes,” he said. “I’ve been saving money to get my own place but my dad seems to like having us around.”

Derek thought about the drive he made every day from Beacon Hills to town and couldn’t even imagine how long of a bus ride that was for them. “You know, I live in Beacon Hills.” Stiles’ eyes widened. “A loft in the warehouse district. If you wanted a ride into town or someone to drop Robin off and pick her up-”

“Why are you doing this? You keep doing nice things for me.”

Derek opened his mouth but shut it quickly, thinking about Stiles' question seriously. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing and have Stiles think he thought of him as a charity case. “I saw you and Robin looking at the dress in the window every day and the way you both looked so upset about it. I saw you giving money to the street performers and coffee to the homeless and I wanted to be the one to do something nice for you. I wanted to make you smile.”

Stiles looked thoughtful for a second before a small grin crossed his lips. “You did. Robin really liked having dinner with you last night.”

“Just Robin?”

Stiles shook his head and started to say something but Robin woke up. “Mr. Juliet,” she said quietly and smiled at him, big and bright but Derek could tell she wasn’t feeling well. 

“Hi, sweetie. I have a present for you,” he told her, reaching over to grab the box and Stiles gave him an exasperated look. “It cost me nothing.”

Robin struggled to sit up and held her hands out to take the box. It wasn’t gift-wrapped but there was a red bow taped to the top that Robin pulled off and stuck to the side of her father’s head. They laughed and Derek sneakily took a photo of the two of them. He was busy looking at it and sending it off to Stiles’ phone and his mother’s. He nearly dropped his own when Robin let out a squeal. 

“It’s the dress, daddy!” she said, taking the dress out of the box and holding it up. The box fell to the ground and Derek grabbed it and caught Stiles glaring at him.

“Why don’t you go try it on in my bathroom,” Derek said, pointing to a door on the right-hand wall, laughing when she scrambled off the couch and into the room, the door slamming shut behind her.

“Cost you nothing?” Stiles hissed. “That dress costs over five hundred dollars, Derek!”

“My mother made it, Stiles,” Derek hissed back. “She’s a seamstress and I showed her a photo of the dress. It, literally, cost me not one single penny but even if it was five hundred dollars I would’ve spent it to put that smile on her face.”

“Why?” Stiles asked.

“I don’t know,” Derek admitted. “I just know that every time that the two of you frowned, it hurt and when you smiled it didn’t hurt anymore. It sounds stupid, I know.”

Stiles shook his head again but when he opened his mouth, Robin burst out of the bathroom squealing and laughing. “Daddy, look at me!” She whirled in a circle, the skirt of the green and white dress flowing around her until she stumbled and Stiles caught her by the arm. “Woah,” she said, holding her hands to her head and laughing. 

“You have your dream dress,” Stiles told her.

“I have a better dress,” she told him. “I heard Mr. Juliet say that his mommy made it for me. Just for me! Tell her, ‘thank you’.” She twirled one more time, slowly, and then hurried back to the bathroom muttering about keeping it clean.

“Yes, give her my thanks, too,” Stiles said. “And thank  _ you. _ ”

“I didn’t do anything,” Derek said. 

“Yes, you did,” Stiles assured him. “You made her happy.” He looked towards the bathroom and back to Derek. “And making her happy makes me happy.”

“And that makes me happy,” Derek replied, laughing when Stiles rolled his eyes. “Have dinner with me?”

“When?” 

“Every night?” Derek suggested with a grin and Stiles rolled his eyes. “But we can start with tonight.”

“I don’t have time to find a sitter.”

“Robin’s invited,” Derek said, having not even considered not including the girl, just as she came out of the bathroom, holding the dress carefully in her arms.

“Invited where?” 

“To dinner with Mr. Derek,” Stiles told him.

“Can we go to the diner again, Mr. Juliet?” she asked and Derek saw Stiles shake with held-back laughter, the name was going to stick.

“I was thinking…” He trailed off when his phone buzzed and he read the message from his mother, wondering not for the first time if she had cameras installed in his office. “I was thinking we could have dinner with my family. They’re having a barbecue.” His phone buzzed again. “Really, mom?” he muttered before looking at Stiles. “Your father’s already coming.”

“Papa?” Robin asked and Stiles nodded. “Let’s go.” 

“I guess that’s the answer,” Stiles said, helping her put the dress back in the box before they both got off the couch and Robin held her hand out to Derek who took it. 

They went out to Derek’s car and headed towards Derek’s family’s house, talking and singing along with the radio as Stiles kept jumping from station to station. It would have driven him crazy if Robin didn’t seem to be enjoying it so much. She screamed out, “Stop!” when Stiles came to a station that was playing a song that Derek had heard too many times while his sister was on TikTok.

He started to say something when Robin started singing along, not quite getting the words right but Stiles and Derek exchanged looks and flushed faces when she sang, “Marry Mr. Juliet…”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on tumblr. I'm 'josjournal' over there.


End file.
